News Broadcasting
CNBC’s ‘Trial by Fire’ debuts on 21 February
MUMBAI: It’s trial by fire alright. What else would you call a quiz show from India’s leading business channel, where the top B-school students are as participants and top corporate leaders are the judges.
Launching on Saturday, 21 February 2004, Trial By Fire to be aired every Saturday-Sunday at 10.30 pm is a unique B-school quiz show touted to be intelligent yet exciting, unique and engaging.
An 11 part series, Trial By Fire aims at bridging the gap between management theory and practice and familiarize students with the challenges that managers face everyday.
The bi-weekly aim, is a set of eight quarterfinals, four semifinals and the grand finals. They will capture the excitement and emotion of the contestants as they battle their way to the top, says an official release. With this show the channels aims to give a peep in the minds of B-school students.
The show format that focuses on EQ than on IQ, aims to display how prepared management students are for the pressures of work life through an incisive quiz show format. The success in the contest will depend more on handling perceptions and pressures, than on number crunching and data analysis, says the release.
Presented by Van Heusen in association with LG and Metlife India, the quiz will test risk-taking ability, comfort in ambiguity, understanding of situations, managing perceptions, empathy, and speed of decision-making. According to the release the key features of the show is the interaction between the participants and some of the most well known industry leaders.
Hosted by quizmaster and television personality Derek O’Brien, the contest has over 1500 students from 250 B-school across the country participated in a comprehensive online test (www.cnbctrialbyfire.com) to qualify.
Only 16 teams of two members each, qualified for the quarterfinals. Each episode features three respected industry leaders who would be evaluating and scoring the teams.
Every episode will feature four innovative rounds that test the ability of the contestants to handle ethical or socially challenging situations, understand body language and nonverbal cues, take quick and accurate decisions and evaluate their knowledge of corporate and business affairs, adds the release.
While episode one will see teams from IIM, Bangalore (AMITY Business School, Gurgaon IIM Lahore,) and IMI, Delhi judged by ING Vysya, VP and marketting head Gautam Sharma, DHL marketing head Ramesh Natrajan and Zee TV president Sunil Khanna, episode two will have teams from IIT, Madras, NMIMS, Mumbai, SP JAIN, Mumbai, and FMS, Delhi judged by BPL Innovision Business Group, Business Development exeutive VP Krishna Angara, Sahara India Parivar executive director Parvez Damania and Sun Microsystems Country head marketing K P Unnikrishnan.
According to CNBC-TV18 sales and marketing VP B Saikumar, “Trial By Fire provides management students with a platform to display their managerial capabilities to corporate leaders of India Inc. The show further extends CNBC-TV18’s reach into the management school community and is a logical successor to the Lessons In Excellence Case Contest, which was a resounding success with management students. Trial By Fire will provide captivating viewing for business leaders, management students, and audiences from every part of the spectrum. This is yet another initiative in our continuing efforts to add diverse, incisive programming to our portfolio and give our discerning viewers a wide variety of intelligent and engaging shows on the channel.”
News Broadcasting
UDF poised to return to power in Kerala, says Manorama-CVoter survey
Massive opinion poll projects shift in Kerala politics ahead of 2026 Assembly elections.
MUMBAI: The winds of change appear to be blowing through Kerala’s political landscape and this time, they seem to favour the United Democratic Front. A comprehensive mega opinion survey conducted by Manorama News in partnership with CVoter projects a potential comeback for the UDF in the upcoming Kerala Legislative Assembly Elections 2026. The survey, covering all 140 constituencies with a massive sample size of nearly 90,000 respondents, predicts the UDF could win between 69 and 81 seats.
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) is expected to secure 57 to 69 seats, a significant drop from the 99 seats it won in the 2021 elections. This would mean the LDF losing 30 to 42 of its sitting seats. Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which drew a blank in 2021, is projected to open its account with 1 to 5 seats.
Region-wise, the UDF is expected to make strong gains in Malabar, winning 25 to 34 out of 48 seats, and in Central Kerala, where it could bag 29 to 33 out of 53 seats. In South Kerala, the LDF is likely to retain an edge with 21 to 25 seats, while the UDF may improve to 12 to 16 seats. The NDA could pick up 1 to 3 seats in the southern region.
The survey was conducted between 14 and 26 March 2026, with additional tracker and snap polls carried out from December 2025 to March 2026. A total of 89,693 respondents participated, ensuring representation across all demographics and social segments.
Manorama News has a strong track record of accuracy, with its previous projections closely matching the actual results of the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2021 Kerala Assembly polls.
In Kerala’s famously fierce political battles, this survey suggests the pendulum may be swinging back. Whether the final verdict matches these numbers or throws up another surprise, one thing is clear, the 2026 Assembly elections are shaping up to be one of the most keenly watched contests in the state’s history.
